A Little Rock couple was recovering Monday after spending days lost in West Texas, surviving by drinking water from a spring before being rescued.

The episode began Wednesday when Cathy Frye, 43, and her husband, Ricky Lee McFarland, 58, had to leave Big Bend National Park because it was closed due to the federal government shutdown. An official at the national park, which the couple had visited annually since 2001, suggested that they relocate to the neighboring 300,000-acre Big Bend Ranch State Park and gave them a map.

The couple arrived at the state park on Wednesday and set up their campsite, then biked to Puerta Chilicote Trail. They had trouble reading the map and became lost, Cox said.

Out of water and tired, they spent that night at a scenic overlook near Mexicano Falls. The next day, they hiked into Arroyo Mexicano, with only a few bottles of water between them.

At one point, Frye took off a fanny pack that contained food and forgot to pick it up as she and her husband moved on, the state parks department said.

They eventually found a live spring that allowed them to refill their water supplies and wash cactus thorns from their clothing.

Temperatures dropped that night and without a way to build a fire, the couple's wet clothing from the spring brought on hypothermia.

By Friday, Frye was suffering from exhaustion and couldn't continue. Her husband left her near Howard Ranch to search for help.

McFarland, a photographer with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, eventually found a ridge with a sweeping view. He took a photo with his camera and zoomed in, spotting a truck. That helped him find the parking spot where he had left their vehicle so he could head to the ranger's station.

He shared the good news with friends in a text message that read in part: "I've not seen her yet, but overjoyed is nowhere near how I feel."

More than three dozen people would join the search for Frye, a Democrat-Gazette reporter.

Frye had moved from the point where her husband had last seen her. She was spotted by a Border Patrol helicopter on Sunday in a dry creek hiding from the sun under a small tree. The mother of two had taken off her clothes, was severely dehydrated, and had a sunburn, bruises and cactus thorns all over her body.

Amy Upshaw Webb, a close friend and former colleague of the couple, said she took comfort in knowing that Frye was a seasoned journalist who had covered major disasters.

"She's a preparer," Webb said of Frye.

Frye said she had read that those who survive her kind of ordeal try to stay in place during the hottest times of the day.

About 200 yards of brush had to be cleared for the helicopter to rescue Frye and take her to an airstrip on the park. She was flown to University Hospital in El Paso by private plane. Frye remained hospitalized Monday night.